Today, a divided panel of the Third Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a case involving the deregulation of Texas’ retail electricity market. Justice Pemberton wrote for the majority, he and Justice Patterson; Justice Smith issued a dissenting opinion. Rather than try to summarize a detailed pair of opinions on a complex regulatory issue, I will simply quote Justice Pemberton’s summary of the case and the majority’s position:

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The collision of the right to contract, arbitration, substantive civil law, separation of church and state, and civil rights embodied in Canada’s (now seemingly interminable) struggle with faith-based arbitration must have created the Rorshach test of all inkblots for liberals and conservatives alike. Heads and hearts must be about to explode everywhere in Ontario. Although we are puzzled with (1)why this debate lingers, (2) the cognitive d

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Guest blogger, Rick Freeman, wrote yesterday about a recent San Antonio Court of Appeals case upholding a finding that the AAA‘s estimate of costs and fees was so high as to make the requirement of arbitration unconscionable. Today the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found an arbitration procedure developed by Amway and JAMS was substantively unconscionable. Judge Dorr could not accept (see p.24) the defendants R

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Guest blogger Rick Freeman contributes commentary about a recent San Antonio Court of Appeals opinion about the enforceability of arbitration clauses. In my last article I discussed the need for fairness in arbitration agreements. Failure to have fair terms in the arbitration agreement or failure to provide a fair arbitration proceeding will result in a perceived lack of legitimacy in the arbitration result. If arbitration results are not perceiv

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The Texas Supreme Court did not hand down any opinions this morning, but it did grant three petitions for review. If time permits, we may offer a bit of discussion as to the cases the Court has decided to review. For now, however, I’ll just post links to the underlying opinions, so that curious readers can stay up to speed. We’re still figuring out the scope of this blog, so we’re not sure if discussion of the granting of Petiti

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They’re in the news again. The National Arbitration Forum has just issued a decision in favor of AARP’s right to its pharmacy web address . Its nice to see an organized, reasoned opinion with references to other opinions ( both within and outside NAF ) and court cases as precedent. And on another happy note, in case there was any doubt, Bill Cosby IS Fat Albert. A panel of World Intellectual Property Organization arbitrators has ruled

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One of the big selling points for arbitration has been discovery is supposed to be cheaper and less formal. Many in practice would disagree, concluding instead that discovery has either become sloppy and incomplete or every bit as contentious, prolonged and expensive as the system its supposed to be an alternative to. In an effort to explore the problems and potential solutions, the National Association of Securities Dealers has announced a two y

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This morning, the Third Court of Appeals issued a memorandum opinion clarifying the technical requirements Rule 683 imposes on a temporary injunction. According to the Court, a TI must include a specific trial date lest it be void, even, as in this case, when the trial court in the underlying lawsuit (Hays County District Court here) has also granted a motion to compel arbitration, effectively precluding the possibility of a trial. The Court of A

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[ed. note: we’ve asked a number of our colleagues to offer guest-blogs about Texas dispute resolution, and our old friend Rick Freeman is the first to chime in. We look forward to continuing columns from Rick.] I am honored to have been extended the opportunity to contribute to the KarlBayer.com blog. I know Karl Bayer and Rob Hargrove to be extremely talented and hardworking trial lawyers and dispute resolution specialists. I will attempt

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This morning, the Third Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a case involving a Municipal Utility District’s attempts to enforce restrictive covenants which, according to the MUD, the trial court and the Third Court of Appeals, prevented a couple from parking a thirty foot travel trailer at their Anderson Mill home and from building a “trailer-port” to house the trailer. The trial court had entered judgment on behalf of the MUD

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